The defending AFC West Champion San Diego Chargers will return to Qualcomm Stadium for the first time since January's AFC Wild Card Playoff game when they line up against the St. Louis Rams in the second preseason contest for both teams on Sunday, August 21. Kickoff is set for 1:05 p.m. PDT.

The Chargers opened their preseason slate Aug. 11 on a rainy night in Green Bay, falling to the Packers 10-7 in a nationally-televised contest on ESPN. Meanwhile, the Rams defeated the Chicago Bears, 17-13, on Aug. 12 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.

In today's NFL, afternoon preseason games are extremely rare. Sunday's affair is one of only two daytime preseason games in the NFL this season. The Chargers have played only 12 known daytime preseason games in team history, posting a 3-8-1 mark in those games.

The Chargers are in a unique situation in 2005. They are the only team in the NFL that returns all 22 starters on offense and defense, plus their punter, kicker and long snapper.

The experience will be invaluable in 2005 as the Bolts set out on the difficult road the NFL has paved. Including the preseason, San Diego will play a total of 10 games against 2004 playoff teams. Seven of those contests will take place during the regular season.

The winning percentage of the Chargers' 16 regular-season opponents is .531, tied with Buffalo and Baltimore and giving San Diego the fifth-toughest schedule in the league.

There is no doubt the schedule is most difficult away from home. Five of the Chargers eight road opponents during the regular season were in the playoffs last season, including NFC champion Philadelphia and two-time defending Super Bowl champion New England. The winning percentage of the Chargers' eight regular-season road opponents is a staggering .578, tied for second-toughest in the league with Cleveland.

Preseason history

San Diego has an all-time preseason record of 108-94-4 (.529). The Bolts have gone 2-2 in the preseason each of the last three years.

The Chargers and Rams have met 33 times in the preseason with the Rams leading the series 17-16. It is tied for the most games against any single opponent in the preseason. The Chargers have also faced San Francisco 33 times in the preseason and will meet the 49ers again this year in the preseason finale for both teams on Sept. 1. The Chargers and Rams last preseason meeting took place on Aug. 22, 2002 in St. Louis in a game won by San Diego, 31-10. The Bolts have won the last two preseason games and three of the last four against the Rams.

The Chargers and Rams have played one another in the regular season a total of eight times and St. Louis leads that series as well, five games to three. The Rams have won two straight and three of the last four in the regular season. The two teams are scheduled to face each other in the regular season again in 2006 in San Diego.

Chargers-Rams Connections

* Chargers running backs coach Clarence Shelmon was the Rams running backs coach in 1991.
* Chargers Director of College Scouting Jimmy Raye III played in two games for the Rams in 1991 after spending the first 14 weeks of the season on the team's developmental squad.
* Chargers CB Jamar Fletcher was born in St. Louis and prepped at Hazelwood East High School.
* Chargers T Courtney VanBuren was also born in St. Louis and attended Ladue Horton Watkins High School in the Gateway City.
* Rams President John Shaw attended high school in San Diego and earned his bachelor's degree at the University of San Diego.
* Rams head coach Mike Martz was an assistant coach at San Diego Mesa Community College in 1974 and from 1976-77.
* Rams assistant secondary coach Gill Byrd played for the Chargers from 1983-1992. Byrd is the Chargers all-time leader with 42 career interceptions. He was named All-Pro by Sporting News in 1989 and Football Digest in 1990, and selected to play in the Pro Bowl following the 1991 and '92 seasons. Byrd was inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame in 1998.
* Rams strength and conditioning coach Chris Clausen was a graduate assistant coach at San Diego State in 1987 and was the Chargers' assistant strength coach from 1989-91.
* St. Louis tight ends coach Frank Falks coached the Chargers tight ends and H-backs from 1994-96.
* Rams secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer is the brother of the Chargers head coach. Kurt worked on 's coaching staffs in Cleveland, Kansas City and Washington.
* St. Louis RB Marshall Faulk was a Heisman Trophy finalist during his collegiate career at San Diego State.
* Bolts WR Greg Camarillo played at Stanford with St. Louis S Oshiomogho Atogwe.
* Chargers rookie DT Luis Castillo played at Northwestern with Rams LB Louis Ayeni.
* San Diego DE Robert Pollard played at Texas Christian with St. Louis G Zach Bray.
* Bolts LB Ben Leber played on the same defense as St. Louis CB Jerametrius Butler at Kansas State.
* Rams LB Brandon Chillar is from Carlsbad, Calif. and attended UCLA where he played on the same defensive unit as San Diego DE Dave Ball,
* St. Louis LB Chris Claiborne is from Riverside, Calif. and attended USC.
* Chargers WR Carl Morris caught passes in college from St. Louis QB Ryan Fitzpatrick at Harvard.
* Rams RB Joey Goodspeed played for the Chargers in 2002.
* San Diego G Toniu Fonoti played at Nebraska with St. Louis CB DeJuan Groce and G Richie Incognito.
* Bolts CB Jonathan Cox played defense with St. Louis DE Anthony Hargrove at Georgia Tech.
* Chargers QB Drew Brees competed in practice at Purdue against St. Louis CB/S Michael Hawthorne.
* Chargers LB Jonathan Pollard practiced against St. Louis RB Steven Jackson at Oregon State.
* Chargers DE Adrian Dingle is from Holly Hill, South Carolina, the same hometown as Rams DE Vontrell Jamison.
* Bolts K Nate Kaeding played at Iowa with Rams TE Erik Jensen.
* San Diego S Bhawoh Jue played alongside St. Louis DT Jimmy Kennedy at Penn State.
* Rams QB Jamie Martin is from Arroyo Grande, Calif.
* Chargers S Hanik Milligan and Rams WR Brandon Middleton were college teammates at Houston.
* Bolts LB Matt Wilhelm played at Ohio State with St. Louis DT Ryan Pickett.
* St. Louis DT Dominic Robinson is from Diamond Bar, Calif. and T Blaine Saipaia is from Oxnard.
* Rams LB Robert Thomas is from Imperial, Calif. and attended UCLA.
* St. Louis LB Pisa Tinoisamoa is from Vista, Calif. and LB Drew Wahlroos is from Poway.